Ringing In the New Year
by suzie2b
Summary: The Rat Patrol gets a mission during the week between Christmas and New Year's.


**Disclaimer:** _ **The Rat Patrol**_ **is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.**

 **Ringing In the New Year**

 **By Suzie2b**

 **It was late and Tully was on guard duty. He let his mind wander a bit and thought about Christmas just a few days earlier. It had been nice to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Charley and his friends. They exchanged gifts and gave the local children toys and candy sent from home for just that purpose. But then the Christmas truce was over and it was back to work as usual.**

 **On December 26** **th** **the Rat Patrol was given a mission to capture a high ranking German officer and bring him in for interrogation. There had been word that a general staff meeting was being held at a German base not far from where they were now camped. They had spent the last three days sixty-five kilometers behind enemy lines, searching the well-used routes for a German officer leaving that meeting.**

 **They had spotted several staff cars, but they carried lower ranking officers and their orders had been specific. They were to return with an officer with the rank of major or better.**

 **############################**

 **Morning dawned bright on the fourth day. Tully had gotten a few hours of sleep after his stint on watch before Moffitt nudged him awake. The sergeant held out a mug of coffee for the private and said, "There's time for some breakfast before we head out."**

 **Tully sat up with a yawn and took the offered coffee. "Thanks." He took a sip, then said, "Maybe we'll get lucky today. It'd be nice if we could get back to base for New Year's Eve."**

 **Moffitt stood up. "Unfortunately, we can't go back without our quarry. And the Germans don't seem to be cooperating."**

 **Tully got up and followed Moffitt to the fire, where Troy was going over a map of the area. Tully took the offered plate of spam and powered eggs from Hitch, then leaned against one of the jeeps to eat. "Where to today, sarge?"**

 **Troy looked up and said, "There's a road about ten miles east of here. Anyone coming from that meeting and heading for Dhahran or Fallujah will most likely use it."**

 **Moffitt took the map and looked at the route his fellow sergeant had marked. "Good idea. However, there's not much cover out there. It's going to be hard to catch anyone by surprise."**

 **Troy nodded as he stood up. "Yeah, that's why I've been avoiding it. But we're running out of time and choices." He looked at Tully. "Soon as you're done eating we'll get going."**

 **############################**

 **Noon found the Rat Patrol watching a long stretch of empty road. Hitch was staring through binoculars from behind a well-placed group of boulders. Troy walked up and stopped next to the private. "See anything?"**

 **Hitch lowered the binoculars and shook his head. "Nothing yet. What are we going to do if this doesn't pan out?"**

 **Troy sighed. "I don't know, Hitch. All we can do is wait for now."**

 **Hitch put the binoculars back up to his eyes as the sergeant turned to walk away. "Hey, sarge. There's a car coming."**

 **Troy took the binoculars and watched as the staff car got closer. It had all the hallmarks of being what they'd been waiting for.**

 **Moffitt and Tully watched as Troy and Hitch hurried towards them and the jeeps. Troy said, "Okay, there's a German staff car coming. Looks like our wait is over."**

 **Moffitt smiled. "At last."**

 **Troy nodded. "Let's try to take 'em still breathing."**

 **The jeeps roared out of hiding as the car passed by. The driver of the staff car immediately put his foot to the floor in an effort to outdistance the jeeps, but it was no good. Hitch pulled alongside the car while Tully sat on its back bumper. Troy let go with the 50 caliber and flattened the tires on that side. Slowly, the staff car came to a halt.**

 **Tully circled around and pulled up alongside the other jeep, facing the car. The driver and passenger in the car suddenly flung open the doors and took cover behind them with guns in hand. They each got a shot off before Troy and Moffitt sent heavy slugs straight through the doors to cut them down.**

 **They could see movement in the backseat of the car and Moffitt called out, "Kommen Sie mit Ihren Händen!"**

 **After a bit of hesitation, the back doors opened and two men got out. One was a general, the other a captain.**

 **Troy said, "Hitch, Tully. Go check 'em out."**

 **As the two privates walked towards the two German officers, the captain suddenly grabbed the pistol from the holster at his side. He fired a round before either Hitch or Tully could duck for cover and the bullet hit Tully in the shoulder just under the collarbone. As he jerked and went down, Moffitt dispatched the captain with one quick burst from the 50.**

 **Troy glowered as jumped out of the jeep and started forward with his pistol aimed at the general. "Hitch, help Tully." He walked up to the general and searched him, taking the sidearm from its holster. Troy looked him in the eye and growled, "You're lucky our people want you alive."**

 **The general said in a heavily accented voice, "I am General Tomas Mayer of the Drittes Reich. You will get no information from me. I guarantee it."**

 **Only mildly surprised that the general spoke English, Troy said, "Our job is to take you in. Allied High Command can worry about whether or not you talk."**

 **Seeing that Troy had the general under control, Moffitt got out of the jeep with a med kit and went to where Hitch had Tully sitting against the car. "How bad is it, Hitch?"**

 **The private opened Tully's shirt as he said, "The bullet didn't go through. He's bleeding pretty badly."**

 **Tully grimaced. "I'm okay. We need to get outta here."**

" **Just sit still. We'll get going as soon as you stop bleeding."**

 **While Moffitt and Hitch attended to Tully, Troy marched General Mayer to one of the jeeps. He tied the general's hands behind him and told him to get in, then said, "How's he doing, Moffitt?"**

 **Without turning, the sergeant said, "We're getting the bleeding under control."**

 **The pressure against the wound had Tully gritting his teeth as he tried to breathe through the pain. Hitch looked at his friend worriedly and said, "Hang on, Tully. It's almost stopped."**

 **A few minutes later Moffitt had applied a field dressing and given him some morphine. He and Hitch got Tully to his feet and helped the pale, unsteady private to the jeep. Tully said quietly to Moffitt, "I'm thinkin' it might be best if you drive, sarge."**

 **Moffitt smiled. "Don't worry, Tully. I'll take care of it."**

 **############################**

 **Just over the line into American held territory the jeeps came to a halt at a waterhole. Tully had managed to hold onto consciousness for most of the trip, but was now slumped in the seat next to Moffitt.**

 **Troy quickly went to Tully's side while Hitch kept watch over General Mayer. "We'll be at the base hospital in a couple more hours."**

 **Moffitt checked the bandage and said, "It might be better to hold up here and call for an ambulance. The wound is bleeding again."**

" **All right … let's get him out." Troy looked at Hitch. "Get the general out and tie him to a tree."**

 **Hitch nodded. "Right, sarge." He got the general out and over to one of the trees. "Have a seat, sir."**

 **As Hitch helped General Mayer slide down to sit on the sand, the general said, "I am not going to run away, private. This is unnecessary."**

 **Hitch started to wind a length of rope around the general's chest and the tree. "Better safe than sorry. We have enough to worry about without having you wander off."**

 **The general grunted as the rope was pulled tight around him. "This is ridiculous! Where would I go?"**

 **Hitch patted the general on the shoulder as he stood up. "Comfortable, sir?" Without waiting for an answer he smiled and said, "Good." Then walked away. Hitch went to where Troy and Moffitt were making the now conscious Tully as comfortable as possible on a blanket. "How it going?"**

 **Tully opened blurry eyes. "It's goin'. Why'd we stop?"**

 **Moffitt replied as he administered a shot of morphine, "Thought it best to stay here for a while."**

" **Don't do it on accounta me."**

 **Troy smiled slightly. "You just take it easy. We're going to get an ambulance out here to pick you up."**

 **After Troy made the radio call for the ambulance, he took a canteen out to General Mayer. He knelt and held the canteen while the general drank. "We'll be at our base in a few hours, sir. Then you'll be able to rest in a nice comfortable cell."**

 **General Mayer asked, "How is your injured man doing, sergeant?"**

" **He's strong and stubborn. He'll pull through."**

" **You are a good soldier. You know your men well."**

 **Troy looked out at Moffitt covering Tully with a blanket and Hitch on watch. "Yeah, I do. We have to know each other to stay alive out here."**

 **The general said, "I heard much about you at the meeting I was at, sergeant. You and your Rat Patrol are quite a point of contention. You know there is a bounty on your heads?"**

 **Troy smiled slightly. "We are aware of it, sir."**

" **The reward is 93,625.05 German marks … dead or alive."**

" **Huh, it's gone up since the last time I heard."**

 **General Mayer asked, "Are you not afraid that someday you and your comrades will be captured?"**

 **Troy said, "We've all been guests of the Germans at one time or another. They just haven't been able to hold onto us."**

" **But someday…"**

" **It's always a possibility, general. In our line of work we can't afford to think about it."**

 **Several hours later the ambulance arrived at the base hospital in Ras Tanura.**

 **Troy, Moffitt, and Hitch took General Mayer and saw to it that he was locked up. Then Hitch went to find Charley while Troy and Moffitt went to report to Captain Boggs.**

 **Troy said to the captain, "General Mayer is going to be a hard one to crack, sir."**

 **Captain Boggs said, "Well, he'll shipped out of here for interrogation. Someone else will have to worry about getting him to talk." He looked at the two sergeants seriously. "I heard Pettigrew was injured. How bad is it?"**

 **Moffitt replied, "He took a bullet to the shoulder, sir. He's no doubt in surgery as we speak."**

" **Has Charley been notified?"**

 **Troy nodded. "Hitchcock is handling that."**

 **############################**

 **11:55pm on New Year's Eve. The mess hall was packed with people getting ready to celebrate the New Year. Smaller parties were going on all over base.**

 **Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, and Charley were gathered around Tully's bunk. His arm was in a sling, but he wasn't looking too bad … all things considered.**

 **Tully sighed as he looked at his friends. "You know, you guys should go on to the party in the mess hall. I'm sure it's a lot more fun than sittin' here with me."**

 **Charley was holding her husband's hand and said with a smile, "He's right. You don't need to be here. I've got him under control. Go out and have a good time**

 **Moffitt grinned. "I can't think of anywhere we'd rather be to ring in the New Year."**

 **Troy agreed. "Nothing better than bringing in the New Year with friends."**

 **Hitch looked at his watch and said with all the excitement of a ten-year-old, "Hey, the countdown's going to start." He hurried to the door and opened it.**

 **As he held the door, they could hear loud voices from all around start counting, "10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … HAPPY NEW YEAR!"**

 **After several minutes of throwing confetti and making enough noise to scare away the old year, Troy, Moffitt, Hitch, Tully, Charley, along with the doctors, nurses, and other patients joined the singing outside…**

" **Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?**

 **Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?**

 **For auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne,**

 **We'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne…"**


End file.
